Federal authorities said the wife of a man charged in a fatal shooting outside a Puerto Rican social club in Bethlehem hired a hit man to kill witnesses in the case, offering to provide him with a gun, night vision goggles and an untraceable phone to use in the plot.

Sonia Panell, the wife of defendant Rene Figueroa, was recorded by the FBI making "chilling" comments as she schemed to have three witnesses murdered to prevent them from testifying against her husband, according to a filing by federal prosecutors.

At a news conference Friday, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said the charges are the culmination of an investigation sparked when witnesses to the 2012 gun battle that left a 23-year-old woman dead and others wounded complained that they thought they were being followed or watched.

"In fact, the victims' fears were true and they were in fact being stalked for the purposes of killing them," First Deputy District Attorney Terence Houck said.

Flanked by Bethlehem police officials, he and Morganelli said the arrest sends a message that authorities are not going to stand by as witnesses are targeted.

Figueroa and co-defendant Javier Rivera-Alvarado face a score of serious felonies in a chaotic shootout early Dec. 2, 2012, that police have called one of the Lehigh Valley's worst gunfights. Figueroa could receive the death penalty if convicted of murdering Yolanda Morales of Bethlehem, who was gunned down during the melee outside the Puerto Rican Beneficial Society on the South Side.

Panell, 37, of Lansford, was arrested Wednesday and is being held in federal detention, according to court records. She faces allegations of commissioning murder for hire and aiding and abetting, and could face up to 25 years in prison, federal prosecutors say.

She is accused of recruiting an unnamed "putative killer" and agreeing to pay him and give him a car if he killed the witnesses. Houck said the supposed hit man was a family acquaintance of Panell's in Ohio who contacted the FBI in that state after she approached him.

Houck said the intended targets were the prosecution's main witness, Orialis Figueroa of Easton, who was shot in both legs; Orialis Figueroa's partner, Shajuan Hungerford; and Orialis Figueroa's brother, Angel Figueroa of Easton, who was paralyzed in the shooting. (Neither of the Figueroas is related to defendant Rene Figueroa, authorities have said.)

The federal filing noted that "one of the intended murder victims is handicapped" and said Panell worried that "the [expletive] in the wheelchair" would be "especially difficult to kill."

Panell told the supposed hit man the name of the facility where Angel Figueroa attended physical therapy and "suggested that the only way to catch and kill him would be to do so after he arrived for his therapy appointment," the filing by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph LaBar says.

Houck and Morganelli said the probe continues, with the possibility that others could face federal or state charges. Asked at the news conference if Rene Figueroa could be implicated, Houck said that "no one is not included."

Jury selection in Figueroa and Rivera-Alvarado's trial was scheduled to begin March 3. But on Wednesday, Northampton County Judge Anthony Beltrami delayed the case until July after meeting behind closed doors at length with lawyers from both sides.

Defense attorney Gary Asteak, who represents Rene Figueroa, said he learned of the allegations against Panell just before that conference. On Friday, Asteak said he does not yet know what the development could mean for his client.

"It came as a complete surprise to me obviously, and I haven't discussed the implications of this with him yet," said Asteak, who noted that Figueroa has not been charged in the alleged plot.

According to the federal filing, in a Dec. 20 recorded phone call with her incarcerated husband, Panell referred to the implements needed to carry out the killings as "hunting gear."

"Panell's recorded comments about her desire that the three witnesses be killed are chilling," the filing says.

Among other allegations in the filing:

Panell compiled information on the intended victims, even pointing out their homes and workplaces to the supposed hit man. On Dec. 19, she showed him photos of the people she wished killed and took him on a three-hour tour of the locations where they could be found.

"As she did, Panell calmly discussed the details of the plot with [him], such as the payment [he] was to receive and the equipment he would need, and also admonished [him] not to use his 'Obamaphone' for the plot, as she feared it was traceable by the government."

In a recorded conversation Jan. 5, she assured the supposed hit man that she would get him night vision goggles, would steal a license plate to help conceal his identity and, if necessary, would provide him cash in advance.